Betty and Veronica Don’t Live Here Anymore: The Changing Role of Women in Comics

The American comic book industry has had a long tradition of introducing strong and empowering super heroines and villains, including Wonder Woman, Catwoman, and Dazzler. Over the past decade, more titles have been adapted to feature films, and their popularity continues to grow. Do these and similar comic book films reflect how the role of women in comics have changed since the Golden Age, and do they draw new audiences to a literary and artistic medium they would not have otherwise considered?

According to the Friends of Lulu Retailer Handbook, women tend to purchase mysteries, fantasy, romance and science fiction. Even though the majority of comic book customers are men, female readers tend to lean towards genres that match their tastes in comparable media such as TV and movies.

Comic books and their audiences have evolved since the days of the Comics Code Authority, which sought to regulate and censor content it deemed inappropriate. Today, readers have a wider selection of genres and titles from which to choose. Comics have grown to reach mature audiences with grittier titles, adult themes, and a stronger focus on story and realism.

Romance comics have also been around since the 1940s. Originally aimed at older readers (and typically penned by men), the genre shifted to a younger audience. Storylines took on a more innocent tone, but the gender stereotypes and antiquated roles of women in the mid-twentieth century were reinforced by its content.

DC Comics recently announced it will be canceling Minx, a line of graphic novels aimed at young women. Distributors had difficulty pushing the title at mainstream retailers such as Barnes & Noble. Minx writer Mike Carey attributed the book’s poor sales to the expectations of the market. “It was an unusual format, and unusual formats have to elbow their way to the table,” Carey told CBR News.

Despite the disappointing sales of new titles like Minx, publishers continue to develop new products aimed at the ever-growing female comic book audience. As noted in The American Prospect, Marvel publisher Dan Buckley said that its growing female readership pushed the company to develop new storylines aimed at that demographic.

Writer Alyssa Rosenberg argues the disparity between superheroines in print and their translation to the big screen - evidenced by movies such as Elektra, Catwoman, and X-Men - which lessened the development of complex characters and presented audiences with two-dimensional reflections of the same.

Today’s comics have come a long way since the Comics Code to present strong, independent female role models in complex and intelligent stories. But while many in the mainstream will quickly associate traditional “female-friendly” comics to characters like Wonder Woman, the demand for new mature stories and characters continues. It’s just a matter of reaching readers.

Nature or Nuture? Do I measure up?

Hard to miss Dove's latest evolution clip -- a build on its campaign for real beauty.

Dove is trying to send the message that natural beauty, no matter what you look like, is beautiful. The problem is that girls and women don't necessarily buy this. I am not sure we are ever going to change the way girls or women think about themselves. It is natural for girls and women to want to be pretty. It is a primal instinct. Even if we were going to eliminate media influences altogether it would still appear naturally in everyday life, in the schools, on the street.

Although Dove is doing a brilliant marketing and publicity job with this campaign, are they really hitting the mark with the intent to improve the self esteem of young girls today?

We all know that media images are manipulated. To invest heavily in communicating this message is simply underestimating the audience. Most social and peer pressures are much closer to home and certainly impossible to control or manage.

Feeling confident and good about oneself and having a strong sense of self esteem has less to do with outer beauty and more to do with the way we were raised and supported and our role models.

Although we all aspire to "you are beautiful just the way you are, honey..." that doesn't cut it for most.

As one blogger said... "then why didn't Dove put ugly fat women in their ads"? And, they still sell beauty products, don't they?